The Ghostly Tales on Sodor
by Morally Draconequus
Summary: A strange accident leaves Henry two different scars. A pale line on his 'undamaged' right eye which usually remains unnoticed. The other, the ability to interact with the Undead that 'haunts' the Living. With three ghost guides to help him perform his new obligation, what could possibly stop Henry to keep the balance between the Undead and the Living?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

Hi all, me again. This story will be in parts. Reviews and Feedback are greatly appreciated, I'm still learning on how to improve my writing. Enjoy!

Morally Draconequus.

* * *

A normal day on Sodor, that was what that day wasn't. On a normal day, it's fine to have accidents once in a while but have fun saying that this was a normal accident.

It was a simple goods train Henry was taking that day, he was instructed to take the route through the forest.

"Another goods train Henry? I don't know how you can deal pulling a goods train. It's just degrading for us tender engines." spoke Gordon, with the usual amount of pride in his voice. "I suppose there's not enough important jobs like the express. It's not that bad." replied Henry, who was used to the tender engine beside him complaining.

"Don't worry Henry, Gordon probably just doesn't have the skills to pull one. Kinda ironic since he pulls the Express everyday." Thomas' cheeky comment made Gordon a bit more grumpy than usual, luckily, not enough to pull him along the Express route again.

The green tender engine only smiled by habit. He wondered how much he's gone this far in life. Compared to the other engines, his history was probably the most wackiest of them all and not as lucky as the others. Life has been peaceful for Henry… at least, for now…

Beams of sunlight peeked through little gaps that were spared by the emerald leaves of the forest's flora. Henry enjoyed the forest very much, it was as if he had some connection to it. Gordon and James may never understand it, but Henry can't explain it either. The closest answer for it was that he liked the peace and the sights.

He was heading to his usual destination, that was the moment he felt something. It wasn't making any contact but Henry could feel just a hint of it in his boiler. He didn't know what it was but ignored it anyway.

On his return to Brendam Docks was when it happened. Henry took the same route back, the strange sense had hit him more strongly than before. The latter began to slow down.

"Henry, is something wrong? Why are you stopping?" asked his driver, who knew Henry could be a bit of a paranoid. A bit.

"I don't know, do you mind if I check something out?" "Make it quick then. We still have a schedule to run."

The no.3 slowly chuffed, as if he was a detective's canine hunting down a mysterious scent. It lead him to a track with branches making an eerie doorway for Henry. Henry didn't want to go but whatever energy he felt pushed him onward. His driver, Ted wasn't so sure about it but he wouldn't go and abandon the engine he worked with for years now.

After a mere minute, Ted and his coworker felt Henry picking up the pace in a flash. Something was wrong, he knew because Henry himself gave a yelp in shock. "Henry! Slow down, we could crash!" Fear raced through Henry faster than the force that made him bolted down this strange line. "I don't know how! It's not me!" His breathing was at a rapid speed from fear, devoured by the memories of the Flying Kipper incident. Except, he didn't know what was at the end of it. He even didn't have enough courage to cry for help before the sudden impact...


	2. Chapter 2

Every thought was null… There wasn't a sound… It was pitch black… All that one could feel was chilling sensation of cold air. There was no sense of time in this dark abyss…

In such a place, one would answer these simple, cliche questions;

'Where am I?' is an obvious one to start with. 'What is this place?' or 'What's going on?' would appear in their mind too. Many other questions would follow after those ones.

Yet, curiosity wasn't sparked in this case. All of these questions had been answered, alas, something felt off.

The numbness slowly wore off as an unsettling warmth began to rise. The very ability to move had awakened too, however, the only movement available was speaking but nothing was audible until a subtle whisper killed the silence. This whisper rose up and dropped down its dynamics until it found the perfect volume. It didn't come from his own voice.

"Are you really full of bravery, or was it your own stupidity that brought you this far?" It wasn't deep, but not any pitch of some sort to be honest. It was a mix of all voices that spoke in unity, flowing out of one's mouth.

"You could've been something different, oh if only that you had declined that pathetic role of yours. Or if you never were revived in the first place. No, if you never existed."

The silent end of the conversation mumbled nothing, as if replying to whoever or whatever talked.

"Don't you see how foolish you are? After all your efforts?" The response was the same, silent. The sound of that voice was deemed mute but desperate.

"No one is here to guide you, let alone help you. There's only me. You make me laugh, a mortal of metal like you meant to keep me down? What's more hilarious, none of the others deserve your 'help'. Your friends are going to be the end of you, don't you know?"

The list of names rolled off the poisonous tongue, each that came up with its own memory.

"They're all going to end you at some point! You were useless instead of useful!"

Whoever or whatever said it was rather giddy and delighted, yet that attitude made the dark statement more gloomy.

"Oh, if only you weren't such a silly engine. Can't you see how silly you were? What a silly engine you are! Don't you agree? You want to be really useful? It's so simple, you silly engine!"

Everything that was once calm was thrown into chaos. It all became a painful blur.

"Don't fight back."

"Don't cry for help."

"Don't even breathe!"

"So be a good useful engine and _**die**_!"

* * *

The sun had shone its light upon the Island of Sodor, filled with more anticipation than usual. It was the day they'd be able to visit Henry. Only one engine had hesitation in his boiler.

"Gordon? Aren't you coming along?" The big engine searched his mind to answer Emily's question.

"I… need to pull the express. I shouldn't be late for that." "Don't play coy with me," said Emily, "Sir Topham Hatt said we could visit Henry today. Spencer's taking over the express for now, isn't he?" The very idea of his smug cousin taking his job made him grumble unhappily, which made Thomas notice.

"I take it you don't want to see poor Henry?" "No, it's not that! I just… I feel like he wouldn't be too pleased to see me for some reason." "Why though? He's been dormant for a month!" yelled an impatient James. "And his accident had nothing to do with any other engine." Added Edward.

"Fine, I'll go. Let me refill on some coal first." And with that, Gordon excused himself out of his friends' earshot.

Should he go? After all, Henry's repairs were completed a few weeks ago. What stopped him then? Guilt? No, Edward said it had nothing related to any other engine.

He closed his eyes and saw a vision that was burned into his memory. He should've forgotten about it by now...


	3. Chapter 3

The Steamworks was the same as always, even though there was some noise made by the workmen, the noise was familiar and welcome. What was more welcoming was Victor greeting them.

"Good morning my friends. I take it that you're all here to visit Henry?"

"Indeed we are." replied Thomas.

"Henry?" "Over here Percy." They saw their fellow engine repaired but a bandage still covered up his eyes. Despite of what happened, Henry smiled a little. Something so small was a heavenly sign of that their friend wasn't in pain.

"So… who's been taking the Flying Kipper while I was gone?"

"James and I have been taking the Flying Kipper alternately," tritely replied Gordon. "How did you crash in the forest, old square wheels?"

"You haven't been whistling too much while I was away? It's not wrong but we just don't do it." This particular memory made all but Gordon laugh at the latter's undignified moment.

"Great to see that you've retained your sense of humour." Gordon said sarcastically but he was still true to his word. "But seriously, how exactly did you crash? You got yourself into a coma for goodness sake."

"I'm not really sure, there was track in the forest that was never there before. Next thing I knew, I was speeding down said track and everything went dark." Henry answered with uncertainty.

"How are the repairs coming along Victor?" asked Emily. They knew that Henry was well when they saw the Steamworks engine's easy smile.

"We just need to see his eyes and that's all, we'll slowly remove the bandage and see how they've healed up. I can't say that they've healed completely but they should be alright. We will have to take the bandage off to check his eyesight. That is, once the optometrist arrives. She should be here soon."

The engines later chatted about the current news around the island, helping Henry to catch up on what he had missed during the past month. Including the time when James whining for how long the line to the wash down was and how he was trapped in said line and couldn't move out or cut in front just a few days ago. That was the only piece of gossip that Henry couldn't help but snicker to James' 'demise'.

Sir Topham Hatt arrived, along with a woman carrying a briefcase. "Henry, Ms Well is here to check your eyesight. After this, you may return to your shed and start work tomorrow." "Thank you, sir." Henry was more than pleased to head back to working again. Being a useful engine was a motto that really stuck to any engine… with a few exceptions.

The stout gentleman turned to the other engines. "The rest of you may now return to your jobs."

They all said their goodbyes before they departed the Steamworks.

"I understand that this is such an odd request-" "Oh, I don't mind. There's been weirder cases. After all, the truth is stranger than fiction." Ms Well walked closer to Henry who heard her footsteps, the concrete floor contrasting against her heels.

"I'm Lizzie Well and I'll be checking your eyes, if that's okay." she gently spoke to the engine.

"I don't really mind Ms Well. It'll be good to get this bandage off." softly replied Henry.

The workmen loosened the cloth, Henry no longer felt the pressure of the bandage against his eyelids.

"Could you please try to open your eyes? There's no need to rush."

He opened them in a quick flash, perhaps too quick because they were shut in one second and in a hurry.

"Are you alright?" "Just a little bright."

On the second attempt, Henry slowly lifted the darkness and adjusted to the brightness in the Steamworks. Soon, he had no trouble keeping his eyes open. He saw Ms Well, a middle-aged woman who had her dark brown hair in a bun.

"So, how's your sight? Can you see anything?"

"I can see just fine."

"Any blurriness?"

"No, I can actually see very clearly."

Henry saw Ms Well taking down notes, he swore that he heard her murmur 'strange' under her breath.

The latter gave more tests to check Henry's eyesight.

"I have to say, your eyes have healed far better than I had predicted," she confirmed. "However, I'm no expert on engines. You only have a scar across your right eye which may become permanent as it gets exposed into the sunlight but overall, you passed with flying colours."

Ms Well smiled contently and Henry did the same. As she walked out, Victor had a pleased look on his face.

"The repairs have been completed a week ago. Good as new my friend." "Thank you Victor."

The green engine took slow movements, it took a while to get used to moving since he had not spun his wheels since the accident but he was eventually able to leave and chuff back to Tidmouth Sheds.

Henry was more than relieved that he only escaped with a scar that was hard to notice. But what did she mean that his eye healed better than she thought? The no.3 only ignored it.

The Stanier engine passed through Knapford, where Thomas was pulling Annie and Clarabel and the three were waiting for their passengers. He stopped on a track next to them.

"Henry! Can you see alright? You've had those bandages on your eyes for a month." said the blue tank engine.

"Ms Well said that my eyesight is perfectly clear, surprisingly." answered Henry.

"Well, it's good to have you back Henry." greeted Annie.

"Although," spoke Clarabel, "You do have a little line down across your eye." she reminded Henry of his scar, his expression turned from cheerful to embarrassed.

Thomas squinted his eyes to see said scar. "Oh. That's a really pale scar. I couldn't see it straight away." "Ms Well said it could be permanent but there's a chance that it will fade away." added Henry.

Thomas smiled again. "It's good to see you Henry but I have to go now." Once the conductor blew his whistle, Henry watched the three leave the platform.

For the rest of the day, any time that engines questioned his scar, Henry had to explain. He got tired of it rather quickly.

Night soon came, all of the engines were in their respectful berths.

Henry was more than ready for a peaceful night's sleep, it was just plain bad luck that he didn't. No matter how quiet the sheds were, Henry couldn't find sleep.

' _I swear if I don't get any sleep, I going to go insane.' 'Why bother sleeping then?' 'Would you look at that? I'm hearing voices.' 'About that, it's not you.'_

The first thing Henry saw when he opened his eyes was another engine in front of him. He was transparent and his wheels weren't touching the tracks. An engine was floating, no, a ghost engine.

Henry's first instinct to react was very much likely and no exaggeration involved, to scream loud enough for the entire island to hear. Fortunately for him, the 'ghost' immediately hushed him as soon as he saw horror in the tender engine's eyes.

"Shhhh! Don't you dare do the scream here. And yes, I'm a ghost. Any questions?" After a rather awkward pause between the two, Henry finally came out of his dumbfounded state and whispered back. "A real ghost? You're not going to hurt me, warn me or anything like that?" "I might be a real ghost but I'm an engine like you. The only difference is that I'm dead, not that I don't have standards. Kinda like an engine version of Boo Radley."

"Then… who are you?"

"Who am I?" the hovering engine phrased the question like a statement. "I'm your ghost guide and one hell of a handsome tender engine. No offence."

Henry's fear was replaced with sceptical sarcasm. This 'ghost' didn't tick any boxes of the behaviour of an engine phantom on Henry's list. But then again, he's never seen a real one before so he decided not to be too biased. It was when Henry saw the starry night sky turning into dawn and the others began to wake from their slumber.

"Well, you better be off your way then, Mr. Ghost Engine. I have an important job to do today."

"Please, no formality here. Name's Jekyll. Your friends won't see or hear me so don't get your coupling rods in a twist. Besides, I need to explain a bunch of stuff to you, now you can see me and all, et cetera, et cetera."

As the others woke up, it seems that irony was on Jekyll's side. Not one of them took any notice to Henry's new smug ghost acquaintance. Henry had no choice but to soldier through a day with this ghost. It couldn't be that bad, could it?


	4. Chapter 4

Henry arrived at Knapford Station, awaiting for orders from the Fat Controller.

His driver and fireman had healed from their injuries from the fall but Henry was glad that none of them were hurt badly. His new acquaintance, Jekyll was beside him.

"Why are you still here?" whispered Henry, not wanting to draw attention since he was the only one able to see the ghost.

"Cause you have to accept that you'll have to be dealing with the supernatural - for example, moi - and you have to start learning the basics."

For sure, Henry wasn't afraid of Jekyll now but the idea of putting up with monsters and other ghostly beings beyond his imagination on a daily basis seemed like a nightmare. Correction, his worst nightmare. The engine would have been spooked by a mere owl once, let alone meeting a ghost aside from Jekyll.

Jekyll appeared to be an engine from the Clan Class. It was difficult to distinguish his paint job since he seemed extremely pale green. He had dark circles under his eyes and Henry wasn't sure if it was his sleep pattern from his 'mortal' life or if it was a side-effect of becoming a ghost.

Speaking of sleep patterns, Henry felt rather drowsy.

"Could you at least disappear for now? I don't need these supernatural basics to deal with at the moment."

"Sorry Henry, but I'm stuck with you until you agree." Jekyll smirked, his smile somewhat was a mix of Thomas' cheekiness and James' vain attitude. Not a good sign.

"That's great." Henry murmured sarcastically. "What's great Henry?"

Henry realised the Fat Controller looking at him, as if he were concerned.

"Th-that I'll be back in work, sir." Henry stammered and smiled nervously. The Fat Controller seemed convinced in his lie anyway.

"Alright then, you'll be doing your usual jobs like before. Just be a bit careful, you haven't moved around much since the accident."

"Of course, sir." Henry replied. And with that, he left to Brendam Docks with Jekyll tagging along.

* * *

His arrival to Brendam Docks wasn't as peaceful as he hoped.

"Let's get down to the ghost business," said Jekyll, "I'm here to be your guide and teach you things that will help you to maintain the supernatural activity, specifically on this island."

"Why can't you do it then? You're a ghost after all."

Jekyll then phased through Salty as if he were nothing to prove his point, causing Henry's eyes to widen in surprise.

"You can't interact with the physical world so you're interacting it indirectly through me?"

"Bingo, Nancy Drew."

"My name is not-"

Henry had hastily shut his mouth when Salty, unaware to the ghost phasing through him, greeted Henry. "Hello there Henry. You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"I'll take that as a compliment." said Jekyll, much to Henry's disdain. Of course, none of the other engines or anyone else in general could see Jekyll but blocking him out was difficult due to the lack of sleep.

"Hello Salty, I just didn't get much sleep last night. I'll be alright though." said Henry

"Let's hope you don't have an accident today." remarked Cranky.

Henry had an annoyed look on his face, both from Cranky's statement and also Jekyll's clever line, 'You might steal Cranky's title with that face'.

* * *

After delivering the coal cars, Henry's mind began to get blur with pain softly. Basically the engine equivalent of a migraine. He wasn't sure if it was from the lack of sleep or Jekyll nagging him throughout the entire day but Jekyll wasn't helping at all.

"Come on Henry, just accept the fact that you are now responsible for the supernatural occurrences around Sodor." Henry grew more stubborn as Jekyll continued his attempts to persuade him.

"No, I won't. Besides, what can an engine like me do to-" "Help!"

Henry paused at the distant voice.

"James?"

It was indeed James, who was rushing towards a sharp turn with troublesome trucks behind him pushing the red tender engine onward, chanting to go faster much to James' chagrin.

It was becoming to the same bend where James had his accident due to his wooden brake blocks years ago.

"James! Use you breaks!" "I can't! They're jammed!"

Henry froze, he could only stare at the poor engine racing towards the bend.

'He can't crash. He can't!'

The memories had hit Henry, when James was badly damaged and it reminded Henry of the Flying Kipper and worse, the incident in the forest.

'He won't crash, he won't crash...' Henry repeated this mantra.

James' body was beginning to tilt and by the looks of his expression, he was frightened and braced for impact.

'He won't crash…'

Something sparked in Henry, some sort of determination swirled. He refused to even blink, as if he was concentrating, hoping for a miracle to happen and blocking out the rest of the world.

'No, he won't crash!'

The Stanier Black 5 was expecting for a tremendous sound of metal clashing against the earth but he didn't hear anything. Henry gazed to the field, peaceful as it was before. Puzzled, he looked back to the track which James was still on. The momentum began to slow down, and James was able to stop. The mixed traffic engine had his mouth gaped open and eyes wide from the phenomenon.

"James, are you okay?" It took awhile before James had regained his ability to speak. "Yeah," James tritely replied before grinning buffer to buffer, "bust my buffers! Henry, did you just see that?! I didn't crash!"

Henry was shocked. James had just defied the laws of physics. After checking that James was able to brake again, both engines continued their respective journeys.

"What the hell was that?" Jekyll laughed and wheezed at Henry's question.

"That is what you can do to help with the supernatural," responded Jekyll, "the gift of telekinesis to be exact, aka the ability to move objects with your mind."

"So James had nothing to do with it?" asked Henry.

"Not one bit. That was all you. And don't worry, you won't end up like Carrie White. Not with my supervision."

The green engine glared at Jekyll. "If only I had the power to make you go away." remarked Henry, which made the ghost smile more.

"I'm just glad that this won't be boring after all." Jekyll replied.


End file.
